Auction House (2)

"Appearances don't exactly matter too much, but I would want to remain within a more formal appearance range. At the very least, they need to clean up well and look snazzy in a suit or dress. I don't really mind the race, but I want them to be someone I wouldn't mind representing me."

"That's a tough bar to clear, Lady Duchess..."

Heather whistled softly as she flipped through a few more pages of the ledger, eventually stopping on one as she asked "How many slaves are you looking for? You said you want to employ enough to run a store, but how many people are you hoping to get?"

Renna and I exchanged glances as we contemplated her question together, though I left the business decisions to the businesswoman as I shrugged and rested against the counter, wondering just who we would end up giving a better life to.

"Let's start with an even 10 people. That way I can set up shifts and have rotating schedules for them so that they don't get burnt out. Again, I want them to be sociable and capable inside of a business environment, and I want them to understand that we are not requiring any sexual services from them for this opportunity."

The Aviankin nodded and turned the book around, presenting a page to the Duchess and tapping it as she began to read it aloud even as Renna read it herself, ensuring we were all comprehending the same thing.

"Firstly, I'll admit I am highballing you right now since you haven't given me a price range, so here's my hopeful sell for today. Arani Yunii, former head butler of a now disgraced Noble House on the fringes of the Queendom. Dawn Elf, educated, sold herself to avoid the severe debts that would have fallen upon her shoulders if her Mistress had had her way. 

Like most Dawn Elves, she's rather strict with rules but overall a cheerful person, good with people and in possession of a silver tongue. Fit, handsome, and pretty adept at all things business related, Arani Yunii is guaranteed to be leaving this Auction House within the week, so..."

Giving us both a small smile, Heather then tapped the bottom of the page as she said "And of course she's a bit expensive; contract of three years, guaranteed no sexual service clause that she has the right to report to the Guard should it be infringed, and a non negotiable value of 75 Gold... a year."

"I'm... I'm sorry..?"

Even Renna seemed somewhat surprised by that number, and for me I just had no real concept of what money was worth here that it seemed large, but at the same time it wasn't too surprising since this was three years of this woman's life that we were buying, so there was that too...

"Yup... 75 Gold a year just for Arani Yunii. But again, this is a former head butler of a Noble House, she knows a thing or two that makes her valuable, and she's really damn good at her job. Would you like me to set her page aside for now, or..?"

My incredible lover pursed her lips as she thought about it, but honestly I was feeling a little bit intrigued by this woman, so I nodded and said "If you would please do so, that would be nice. However, the next nine... let's keep them within a 'reasonable' range now, Miss Heather? Is that possible?"

The Aviankin smirked at me as she carefully took the Dawn Elf's page out of the book and placed it to the side, not questioning it since Renna just nodded as well, the red head trusting me on this one.

"What would be a 'reasonable' range then, Lady Duchess? Miss Veil~?"

"Somewhere between 5 to 20 Gold if possible, Miss Heather. Do you have anyone in mind?"

"Of course, of course~!"

She continued to smirk as she flipped through the book some more, bringing us to another page as she began to list off some more potential workers, all of whom had ranges of abilities and talents that might be of use to us.

"Here we have one Trinity Heran, a Dovekin futanari who wanted to pay off her parent's debt. Loves talking to people, has a good work ethic, and is more than open to doing all sorts of tasks. Only 5 Gold a year for three years, quite nice for someone like her.

Then this is Brix Plume, a feisty little short stack of a Goblin who loves messing with people but still gets her tasks done efficiently. Only problem with her is that she's... impossibly horny, so do expect her to require a little 'maintenance' here and there each and every single day. Also only 5 Gold per year, but she's on a five year..."

Two back to back interesting candidates joined our growing pile, and after a few more flips we had a list of fifteen candidates - besides Arani Yunii - that would cost us another 75 Gold a year to employ, but considering what we were doing and the absolute loyalty that we would get from them, I thought it was worth it.

"Would we be able to talk with them first, or is this a 'you get what you think you see' establishment?"

Heather stared at the stack of papers before turning to look at the door that led deeper into the Auction House, the Aviankin pursing her lips as she took a breath and studied the empty store too, eventually saying "Sure, why not. No one else has come in today, so let's go into the slave's apartments."

"Yes... why is it so empty today, Miss Heather? Is there something interesting happening today?"

Pulling out a pocket watch, Heather got the time and nodded slightly as she replied "Not quite yet, but in an hour and a half there will be a large auction with many fun things to be bid on. You didn't hear it from me, but there's going to be some unique slaves too~! Foreign ones that got caught in the border cities; criminals, the lot of them, but for different crimes. Spies, assassins, smugglers, kidnappers... quite a few came on in, but I have heard they're all interesting people~!"

Giving us a wink, Heather turned towards the door and guided us into the depths of the store's facilities, where we could begin talking to some of the potential workers for Domus Stella.